PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary of Education, working with the Secretary of the Interior, can give grants to nonprofit groups that research, collect, show, and explain artifacts about the Underground Railroad and its lessons. Any group that gets a grant must sign an agreement and must set up a facility to house, care for, display, and teach about the artifacts and make the materials available to schools, colleges, and the public, including online. The group must show strong public and private support by forming a public-private partnership that provides at least 4 times the grant amount from nonfederal sources, create an endowment for operating shortfalls, build a network of satellite centers if those satellites raise 80 percent of needed nonfederal funds, link electronically with related local and regional sites, and send a yearly report with program descriptions, the prior year’s audited financial statement, and any plans and evaluations the Secretary requires. Congress authorized $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and for each of the five following fiscal years.

Title 20, §1153

Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Program established

The Secretary of Education, in consultation and cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, is authorized to make grants to 1 or more nonprofit educational organizations that are established to research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad, including the lessons to be drawn from such history.

(b)Grant agreement

Each nonprofit educational organization awarded a grant under this section shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Education. Each such agreement shall require the organization—

(1)to establish a facility to—

(A)house, display, interpret, and communicate information regarding the artifacts and other materials related to the history of the Underground Railroad, including the lessons to be drawn from such history;

(B)maintain such artifacts and materials; and

(C)make the efforts described in subparagraph (A) available, including through electronic means, to elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and the general public;

(2)to demonstrate substantial public and private support for the operation of the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between one or more State or local public entities and one or more private entities, which public-private partnership shall provide matching funds from non-federal sources for the support of the facility in an amount equal to or greater than four times the amount of the grant awarded under this section;

(3)to create an endowment to fund any and all shortfalls in the costs of the on-going operations of the facility;

(4)to establish and maintain a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad throughout the United States, including the lessons to be drawn from the history of the Underground Railroad, if such satellite centers raise 80 percent of the funds required to establish and maintain the satellite centers from non-Federal public and private sources;

(5)to establish and maintain the capability to electronically link the facility with other local and regional facilities that have collections and programs which interpret the history of the Underground Railroad, including the lessons to be drawn from such history; and

(6)to submit, for each fiscal year for which the organization receives funding under this section, a report to the Secretary of Education that contains—

(A)a description of the programs and activities supported by the funding;

(B)the audited financial statement of the organization for the preceding fiscal year;

(C)a plan for the programs and activities to be supported by the funding as the Secretary may require; and

(D)an evaluation of the programs and activities supported by the funding as the Secretary may require.

(c)Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Higher Education

Amendments

of 1998, and not as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965 which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2009—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–39 inserted “this section” after “to carry out”. 2008—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110–315, § 933(1), inserted “, including the lessons to be drawn from such history” after “Underground Railroad”. Subsec. (b)(1), (2). Pub. L. 110–315, § 933(2)(A), added pars. (1) and (2) and struck out former pars. (1) and (2) which read as follows: “(1) to establish a facility to house, display, and interpret the artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad, and to make the interpretive efforts available to institutions of higher education that award a baccalaureate or graduate degree; “(2) to demonstrate substantial private support for the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a State or local public entity and a private entity for the support of the facility, which private entity shall provide matching funds for the support of the facility in an amount equal to 4 times the amount of the contribution of the State or local public entity, except that not more than 20 percent of the matching funds may be provided by the Federal Government;”. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 110–315, § 933(2)(B), inserted “and maintain” after “establish” in two places and “including the lessons to be drawn from the history of the Underground Railroad,” after “United States,”. Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 110–315, § 933(2)(C), inserted “and maintain” after “establish” and “, including the lessons to be drawn from such history” after “Underground Railroad”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–315, § 933(3), substituted “$3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years” for “this section $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2003”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2009 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 111–39 effective as if enacted on the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–315 (Aug. 14, 2008), see section 3 of Pub. L. 111–39, set out as a note under section 1001 of this title.

§1153 Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program

Summary

Title 20, §1153

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata